Marc Marquez continued his dominance of pre-season testing at Sepang on Wednesday, leading a Honda 1-2-3. The world champion was the only rider to break the two minute barrier to finish four tenths clear of teammate Dani Pedrosa and LCR Honda’s Stefan Bradl although times were close behind the leader, just a quarter of a second separating Pedrosa and seventh placed Bradley Smith.
Most riders set their quickest times in the morning with Marquez clocking a 1:59.926 shortly before the lunch break. Pedrosa and Bradl also peaked in the morning with Dani setting a 2:00.336 on Bridgestone’s new soft tyre, just three thousandths of a second quicker than the German. Valentino Rossi was a tenth further back in fifth, finishing as the top Yamaha rider once again, while Aleix Espargaro produced a sensational display to take fifth on the open FTR-Yamaha for Forward Racing. Two more Yamahas completed a tight top seven with Jorge Lorenzo and Bradley Smith three hundredths apart in sixth and seventh.
Pramac’s Andrea Iannone led the Ducati challenge for the second day in a row but Alvaro Bautista struggled in comparison to day one, suffering a technical problem this morning on his Gresini Honda. The Spaniard returned to the track and claimed ninth late on with Tech 3’s Pol Espargaro completing the top ten, setting his best time at the beginning of the day.
Although their positions didn’t change significantly, Ducati’s factory riders each found over a second form their Tuesday best. Andrea Dovizioso and Cal Crutchlow were eleventh and twelfth respectively with Michele Pirro and Nicky Hayden close behind, the latter finishing as the quickest of the production Hondas. Scott Redding, also aboard the open-spec Honda, closed the gap on the leaders from four to three seconds on a positive day for the British rookie, ending the day in 21st position.
MOTOGP OFFICIAL TEST – SEPANG (WEDNESDAY 5TH FEBRUARY) | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
POS | RIDER | MOTORCYCLE | TEAM | TIME | |
1 | ![]() |
HONDA | REPSOL HONDA TEAM | 1:59.926 | |
2 | ![]() |
HONDA | REPSOL HONDA TEAM | 2:00.336 | |
3 | ![]() |
HONDA | LCR HONDA MOTOGP | 2:00.339 | |
4 | ![]() |
YAMAHA | YAMAHA FACTORY RACING | 2:00.464 | |
5 | ![]() |
FTR YAMAHA | NGM MOBILE FORWARD RACING | 2:00.547 | |
6 | ![]() |
YAMAHA | YAMAHA FACTORY RACING | 2:00.573 | |
7 | ![]() |
YAMAHA | MONSTER YAMAHA TECH 3 | 2:00.603 | |
8 | ![]() |
DUCATI | ENERGY T.I. PRAMAC RACING | 2:00.855 | |
8 | ![]() |
HONDA | GO&FUN HONDA GRESINI | 2:00.897 | |
10 | ![]() |
YAMAHA | MONSTER YAMAHA TECH 3 | 2:01.061 | |
11 | ![]() |
DUCATI | DUCATI TEAM | 2:01.146 | |
12 | ![]() |
DUCATI | DUCATI TEAM | 2:01.396 | |
13 | ![]() |
DUCATI | DUCATI TEST TEAM | 2:02.177 | |
14 | ![]() |
HONDA | DRIVE M7 ASPAR | 2:02.287 | |
15 | ![]() |
FTR YAHAMA | NGM MOBILE FORWARD RACING | 2:02.545 | |
16 | ![]() |
DUCATI | IGNITE PRAMAC RACING TEAM | 2:02.675 | |
17 | ![]() |
HONDA | HRC TEST TEAM | 2:02.692 | |
18 | ![]() |
HONDA | DRIVE M7 ASPAR | 2:02.825 | |
19 | ![]() |
YAMAHA | YAMAHA FACTORY TEST TEAM | 2:02.970 | |
20 | ![]() |
SUZUKI | SUZUKI TEST TEAM | 2:03.064 | |
21 | ![]() |
HONDA | GO&FUN HONDA GRESINI | 2:03.117 | |
22 | ![]() |
ART & PBM | PAUL BIRD MOTORSPORT | 2:03.528 | |
23 | ![]() |
FTR KAWASAKI | AVINTIA BLUSENS | 2:04.551 | |
24 | ![]() |
PBM | PAUL BIRD MOTORSPORT | 2:04.619 | |
25 | ![]() |
HONDA | CARDION AB MOTORACING | 2:05.261 | |
26 | ![]() |
FTR KAWASAKI | AVINTIA BLUSENS | 2:05.355 |